Kim Dare

4.5 STARS (rounded up)--What to expect when there's a young leather virgin" who comes into a leather bar, sees the Dom of his dreams and stalks said Dom for weeks on end? Oh and I did mention the BDSM newbie is quite deliciously bratty to no end and just begs for spankings?

Expect kinky fun in Kim Dare's "Once a Brat".

Bret has set his sights on older, experienced Dom, Marcus. He's not-so-subtly stalked the man in the Spread Eagle leather bar. He's never been a submissive but he just knew that show more Marcus would be the man he would choose to submit to. And then I wonder, what is so great about Marcus?

Well with comments from Marcus like this:

"If you wanted to call the shots, you should have chosen to play with a sub rather than a Dom."

Trust me, I was well on my way in lust/like. He respected Bret, never let dominance overpower or quell that big-mouthed streak in Bret. Thou I must say sometimes, I wanted to cup my palm and smack Bret's arse a few times. Luckily, Marcus was able to do and even sign his signature on Bret's ass.

*grins*

When Marcus let Bret know his place...I was in raptures! The lessons he taught Bret were great. And their scenes? They were great especially the first time they played at Marcus' house.

And Bret and that mouth? There's certainly a method to his madness.

"I know I'm a motormouth. And I never have got the knack of bowing and scraping towards guys just because they think they're God's gift to the kinky world. Apparently, that makes me a brat."

Actually, Bret it makes you wonderful in my book. This is a submissive with a spine and an actual thought in his head. Bret never lost himself in gifting Marcus his submission. His opinions and essence that made Bret an interesting character never waned throughout. Some might say he's a brat but I just say it's Bret.

When Kim Dare hits a sweet spot, there's magic. And I found that in "Once a Brat". Sometimes it felt poetic. Other than the declarations of insta-love (which gave me minor niggles of doubt even after Bret's explanation), I couldn't find anything wrong with the story. I enjoyed Marcus. I loved Brat Bret with an e! And a cute HEA! Viva la opinions!

ARC provided by Riptide Publishing for an honest review." show less

This volume was the exact counterpoint to the last book: here Scott puts it all on the line, opens up totally to Joe, and makes himself vulnerable. And really, what else could he have done after Joe has finally admitted that he loves him? And now that both of them have been honest with each other you'd expect everything to be just fine – right? Wrong! Kim Dare is leaving us in suspense for one more book, and I love and hate her for that in just about equal measure.

Now that Joe has been show more totally honest and let Scott know what he wants, he has asked Scott to tell him the same – then stepped back to give Scott time to consider everything before sending the letter. The waiting almost kills Joe, and I loved the descriptions of the tension coiled inside him as he tries to be patient. He is useless without Scott and misses him terribly, and if there is such a thing as Dom hell, this is it for Joe. When he finally receives Scott's letter he can’t even read it since he is too impatient. I laughed out loud when he just jumped to the final sentence, drew his conclusions then raced to see Scott. Right then and there he had to get physical with him. Needless to say, the encounter is explosively hot!

Scott may have somehow found the courage to write the letter to Joe, he may have been totally honest about what he wants, but he is still unable to believe Joe really wants to keep him – forever. Even though he is about a hundred times more courageous than he was at the beginning of the series, the demons in his heart are far more difficult to fight than he expected. Even after all this time and everything they've been through together, a teeny-tiny particle of doubt is left in Scott's brain; the man still believes it is all too good to be true and he will manage to ruin it somehow. I can only hope Joe figures out a way to finally lay all the doubts to rest. He only has one more letter to do it!

If you like D/s stories where both the Dom and the sub make themselves vulnerable to each other, if you enjoy reading about two lovers who are beginning to take steps to become true partners, no matter the apparent dynamics in the bedroom, and if you’re a fan of Scott and Joe, you will probably like this story as much as I do. I look forward to the final installment – even though I dread coming to the end of such a fantastic series.


NOTE: This book was provided by Amber Allure for the purpose of a review. show less

I did not like this book. It's a BDSM story, which I already stated in my review for Katrina Strauss's Some Kind of Stranger is not something I generally like, so I've thought about whether my dislike stems from that or from other aspects of the story. I think I would have disliked this book even if it had not featured BDSM.

Raynard and Ori, especially Ori, were incredibly boring characters. When they were together, they were little more than a dominant and a submissive. When Raynard wasn't show more with Ori, he spent his time trying to put his late uncle's business in order, but none of that was ever shown. Prior to living with Raynard, Ori grew up in lots of different foster homes and eventually ended up at a club where other avian shifters verbally, physically, and sexually abused him, but, again, little was shown. I wanted to know more. Did Raynard have any friends? What kind of business did his uncle leave him? Did Ori ever leave Raynard's house for anything other than attending to his needs as an avian shifter or to run the occasional errand for Raynard? Did Ori ever think about anything other than Raynard and things related to Raynard? Did Ori enjoy anything besides cleaning Raynard's house and having sex with Raynard? (The answer to the last couple questions is probably “no,” which should explain why I thought Ori was the more boring of the two characters. He was so. Incredibly. Dull. Not unlikable, but dull.)

Initially, I found Ori and Raynard's relationship intriguing. Raynard made Ori his servant in order to get him away from an environment where he was clearly being mistreated. Although he was attracted to Ori, he resisted doing anything about that attraction, because he was pretty sure Ori would assume that sex was part of his duties and would say yes to whatever he was asked to do, whether he actually wanted to do it or not.

Unfortunately, then Raynard noticed that the attraction was mutual. He gave Ori a “choice” between being his servant and being his submissive, and Ori decided to be Raynard's submissive. I put the word “choice” in quotes because I, personally, was not convinced that Ori was emotionally capable of making this choice.

Ori had an intense desire to please that was probably due, at least in part, to years of living in foster homes and feeling like he didn't fit in. Ori was essentially abused in every way at the avian club he served at prior to being taken to Raynard's home. That only increased his desire to please and to avoid offense. What Raynard took as a natural tendency towards submission I took as a sign that Ori could have benefited from some therapy. Had Ori gotten that therapy and still wanted to be Raynard's submissive, I probably wouldn't have been as uncomfortable. As it was, the very foundation of Raynard and Ori's relationship didn't sit well with me, and I could never fully settle into seeing it as the light, sweet BDSM tale I think Dare intended it to be. Raynard may not have been abusive the way the other avians were, but he never invited outsiders to help Ori, even when outside help would have been warranted. The mansion could have used more than just Ori as its cleaning staff, I already mentioned that I thought Ori could have benefited from a therapist, and why the heck didn't Raynard take Ori to a doctor after Ori cut his arm?

The story was, for the most part, as dull as the book's characters. Dare made creative use of the story “The Ugly Duckling,” but it took two thirds of the book for anything like conflict to be introduced, and then I felt that part of the book dragged on for too long. Since I did not find Ori and Raynard's relationship appealing, I didn't feel particularly affected by their grief when it looked like they could no longer be together as master and submissive. Ori began to look more and more pathetic, and I felt no sympathy for Raynard when he worried that the only way he might be able to stay with Ori was as something other than his master.

I got this book because I was intrigued by its unusual shifters, but I found Dare's world-building to be sketchy at best. From what I could tell, Dare's shifters could be any species – hawks, ducks, geese, hummingbirds, finches, and more were all mentioned. Shifters seemed to almost always be categorized as either dominants or submissives, with certain species being more inclined to one role or another. All the shifters were male, and it was never explained how women fit into that world. I'm assuming the avian shifters had children with human women, but did the relationships end at the egg donor (no pun intended) level or did avian shifters ever have lasting relationships with the women?

Kim Dare's books appear to be quite popular, and this one was well-received by many of Dare's readers. Had the world-building been better and Ori and Raynard less one-dimensional, I might have liked it more. If I come across another work by Dare with an interesting setup (like I said, I got this one for the avian shifters), I might give her works another shot, but at this point I don't plan on purposefully seeking anything else of hers out.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

ain't perfect, but it's a delight--rating it 5 because not only did i have fun reading it the whole way through, i know it's one i'll want to come back to. i've got such a soft spot for spicy tough subs learning to trust and being given safety by someone willing to give them the world and encourage their honest self-expression. having the sub be a werewolf? even better. i Really appreciate that bayden being a shifter actually deeply affects his life and isn't just a shallow show more gimmick--exploring the cultural and communication differences between humans and shifters is something i wish folks did more, and it's neat to see the way that affected his experience with kink

physical copy, here i come show less